FOURTH PILLAR

CORRECTIONS

 Is the branch of criminal justice charged with the responsibility for the custody, supervision and
rehabilitation of the convicted persons.

Two approaches of correction:

1. Institutional correction
2. Non-institutional correction
Agencies of the Gov’t charged with correctional responsibility:

1. Bureau of Correction (BuCor)

2. Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)
3. Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP)
4. Parole and Probation Administration (PPA)
5. Provincial and Sub-provincial Jails
6. Department of Social Welfare and Development
First Approach: institutional correction

For centuries, jails and prisons were places to hold people before they were punished
for convicted offenders. People were locked up until they could be executed, pilloried, or subjected to
other forms of barbaric suffering. Today, particularly in the Philippines, defendants are held in jails
under the BJMP until judgment is rendered by the court if bail is not available. After conviction, the
convicted person will remain in jail if the sentence is 3 years of imprisonment or below. Only when the
sentence is more than 3 years that the convicted person is transferred from the jail to a correctional
facility under the control of the BuCor for the service of such sentence.

Bureau of Correction (BuCor)

Mandates (Sec. 4 RA 10575 approved last May 24, 2013)

 Safekeeping of National Inmates

 Reformation of National Inmates
Reformation of BuCor (sec. 4b of RA 10575)
1. Moral and spiritual program
2. Education and Training Program
3. Work and Livelihood Program
4. Spots and Recreation Program
5. Health and Welfare Program
6. Behavior modification Program to include Therapeutic Community
Objectives and Functions:
1. To confine persons who are convicted by the courts to serve a sentence in the national prisons.
2. To prevent prisoners from committing crimes while in custody.
3. To provide humane treatment by affording them basic needs in the prisons facility and
prohibiting cruel methods of punishment.
4. To provide a variety of rehabilitation program designed to change the prisoner’s pattern of
criminal or anti-social behavior.
5. To engage in agro-industrial projects for the purpose of developing prison lands and resources
into productive bases or profit centers, developing and employing inmate manpower skills and
labor, providing prisoners a source of income and reducing Bureau’s yearly appropriated funds.
6. To perform other functions that may be directed by the Secretary of Justice or other competent
authorities.
Seven Correctional facilities in the Philippines (under the BuCor)
1. New Bilibid Prison – Muntinlupa City
2. San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm – Zamboanga Del Sur
3. Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm – Palawan
4. Correctional Institution for Women – Mandaluyong City
5. Leyte Regional Prison – Abuyog Leyte
6. Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm – Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental
7. Davao Prison abnd Penal Farm – Tagum, Davao del Norte
Procedures of Admission in Correctional Institutional
• Receiving of convicted person  Checking of commitment papers  Identification of the
prisoner  searching  Briefing and orientation / assignment of quarters

Present Status of Bureau of Correction

As of September 2011, BuCor has a total of 36,063 inmates housed in its seven penal colonies:
33,935 male inmates (94% of the population)
128 female inmates (6% of the population)
3,354 were admissions from January to September 2011. 2, 977 were released during the same period.
50,000+ are on parole and probation.
All in all, there are 96, 499 inmates nationwide.
1 inmate : 1,000 population
2 inmate : 1,000 adult population
1 inmate : 200 households
The inmates population per colony as of September 2011 are as follows:
 New Bilibid Prison (19,513)
 Correctional Institute for Women (1,900)
 Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (2,581)
 Leyte Regional Prison (1,655)
 Davao Penal Colony (5,477 male; 228 female)
 San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (1,444)
 Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (1,900)
For the total admission of inmates from January to September 2011, 27% are recidivist and 20% of the
recidivist are drug offenders.

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)

The BJMP is created under sec. 10 of R.A 6975 as amended by RA 9263. the BJMP exercises supervision
and control over all the city and municipality jails except provincial jails. The provincial jails are
supervised and controlled by the provincial government within its jurisdiction whose expenses shall be
subsidized by the National Government.

Courts and Entities Authorized to commit a Person to Jail

1. Supreme Court
2. Court of Appeals
3. Regional Trial Court
4. Metropolitan / Municipal Court
5. Municipal Circuit Trial Court
6. Board of Transportation
7. Deportation Board
8. Commission on Election
9. Police Authorities
10. All other administrative bodies as may be authorized by law

Types of Jails
1. Lock-up- a security facility for the temporary detention of persons held for investigation or
awaiting preliminary investigation.
2. Ordinary Jail- houses both offenders awaiting court action and those serving short sentences
usually up to three years
3. Workhouses- jail farm or camp houses where minimum custody offenders serve short sentences
doing constructive work programs. These workhouses provide full employment of prisoners,
remedial services, and constructive leisure time activities.

Legal Grounds of detaining a person

 Commission of a crime
 Violent insanity or any other ailment requiring compulsory confinement in a hospital
Requirements for Commitment
1. Commitment order
2. Medical Certificate
3. Complaint / Information
4. Police Booking Sheet
General Categories of Inmates
1. Sentence Prisoner (prisoner)
2. Detention Prisoner (detainee)
Classification of Sentenced Prisoner
1. An insular or National Prisoner is a person who is sentenced of three years and one day to death
2. A provincial prisoner is a person who is sentenced to serve a prison sentence of six months and
one day to three years
3. A city prisoner is a person who is sentenced to serve a prison sentence of one day to three years.
4. A Municipal prisoner is a person who is sentence of one day to six months.
Classification of Detainees
1) Undergoing investigation
2) Awaiting or undergoing trial
3) Awaiting final judgment
Classification of inmates according to security risk
 High Risk Inmates
 High Profile Inmates
 Ordinary inmates

PROBATION
history
 Probation originated in the Boston shoemaker named John Augustus (father of probation).
 In 1841, began to supervise lawbreakers by requesting courts to allow him to take care of said
offenders.
 In 1878, Massachusetts became the first state to pass the probation law.

PROBATION (definition)
 Probation is a sentence handed down to criminal offenders that allows them to remain out of
the jail, under supervision, as long as certain specific guidelines are followed.

Probation Law of the Philippines

 The law defined probation as a disposition, under which the defendant after conviction and
sentence, is released subject to the conditions imposed by the Court and to the supervision of a
probation officer.
The Purposes of Probation of law are:
1. Promote the correction and rehabilitation by providing the offenders with individualized
treatment.
2. Provide an opportunity for the reformation of an offender which might be less probable if he
were to serve a prison sentence.
3. Prevent the commission of offenses.
Notes:
*You can only file an probation if you’ve sentence not below 2yrs of imprisonment and not more than 6
yrs.
*filing for probation shall be filed with the trial court.
*the court shall not deny a petition for probation however an outright denial by the court is a nullity
correctible by certiorari. An accused must fall within any disqualification in order to denied probation.
*you can only file an application for probation at the time of conviction.

Disqualified offenders are:

1. Sentenced to serve a maximum term of imprisonment of more than six years.
2. Convicted of any crime against the national security (treason, espionage, piracy, etc.) or the
public order ( rebellion, sedition, direct assault, etc.)
3. Who have been previously convicted by final judgment of an offense punished by imprisonment
of not less than one month and one day and/ or a fine of not less than P200.
4. Who have been once on probation
5. Who are already serving sentence at the time of effectivity of the decree.

Obligation of a probationer
1. Present himself to probation officer within 72hrs from receipt of probation order.
2. Report himself to the probation officer at least once a month during the period of probation.
3. Not to violate the conditions of his probation.

In case of violation is committed by the probationer

 The court, after considering the nature and seriousness of the violations of probation (if any),
may issue a warrant for the arrest of the probationer. He is then brought to the court
immediately for hearing, which summary. If violation is established, the Court may revoked, the
probationer shall be ordered to serve the sentence originally imposed and shall commit the
probationer. The order of the court is not appealable.

Six Essential Goals of Probation

1. An enlightened and humane correctional system;
2. The reformation of offenders;
3. The reduction of the incidence of recidivism;
4. To extend to offenders individualized and community-based treatment programs instead of in 1
prisonment;
5. It is limited only to offenders who are likely to respond to probation favorable; and
6. It is economical or less costly than confinement to prisons and other institutions with
rehabilitation.

Purposes of the Probation Law

 Section 2 of Presidential Decree no. 968 Probation Law of 1976 provides that the purpose of
the decree is to:
a) Promote the correction and rehabilitation of an offender by providing him with individualized
treatment;
b) Provide an opportunity for the reformation of a penitent offender which might be less probable
if he were to serve a prison sentence; and
c) Prevent the commission of offenses.
The Benefits and Advantages of Probation
 To the Society
The philosophy of probation is that the community is responsible for crime and that is for the
greater good of the society that offenders not be summarily eliminated from productive life but brought
back to its fold in the quickest and least traumatic way possible.
 To the offender
In the absence of probation as an alternative to incarceration, a convicted offender would
suffer the loss not only family contacts and job, but also the loss of privacy or any privileges such as
freedom of choice.
 To the Government
The confinement of all offenders in prisons and other institutions with rehabilitation programs
constitutes an onerous drain on the financial resources of the country. Probation is thus a less costly
alternative to the imprisonment of offenders.